The Kingdom of the Dead is the eleventh book in Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey. Basically Odysseus travels to the Underworld to speak to the Prophet Tiresias. After speaking to the prophet, he speaks with his mother and other close friends.
The Odyssey
The Odyssey is a major greek epic poem written by Homer. The Odyssey talks about the journey that Odysseus faces after the Trojan War. Odysseus struggles to make it home because of the God of the Sea, Poseidon. It was written near the end of the eighth century somewhere near present-day Turkey.
In the beginning of the book, Odysseus and his crew travels to the River of Ocean, located in the land of the Cimmerians. Once he arrived, he performed the required tasks, told by Circe to reach the Underworld. After, he was able to speak with Elpanor, who fell of Circe’s roof earlier. The crewman, Elpanor, pleads for Odysseus to go back, in order for Odysseus to give him a proper burial. Odysseus agrees to gives Elpanor the proper burial that he deserves.
After, he speaks to Tiresias, the blind prophet. Tiresias explains to Odysseus why all these misfortunate events are happening to him. He explains that Poseidon is extremely angry at Odysseus for blinding his son, Polyphemus. In return, Poseidon continues to delay Odysseus’ voyage home. Not only does Tiresias explain what is happening, he asks if Odysseus wishes to learn about future events. Odysseus agrees and Tiresias tells him that he will eventually reach his son and his wife. Tiresias also warns him that he must not touch the flocks of the son, otherwise he and his men will face hardships and Odysseus will lose his crew.
After his conversation with Tiresias, Odysseus was able to talk with his mother, Anticleia. During their chat, Anticleia described the current condition of Ithaca. After speaking with his mother, Odysseus speaks with others from the underworld. For example he speaks with, Agamemnon, who talks about his death from his wife's lover, Aegisithus. He also talks Achillies and also to Ajax, a warrior who committed suicide after losing a contest with Odysseus. Odysseus is forced to flee from the land of the dead by many dead souls who are wishing to learn about being alive.
Theme
In book 11, Homer is trying to teach us to remember our past. When we choose to remember the past it can both bring happiness and wisdom and most importantly, when we make an error in life, the past allows us to learn from it and use it to make the better choice. This is why our past is so key. It can help us find the answer to difficult problems and it allows the failures of others to be learned through the world. Not only did Odysseus receive wisdom by visiting the Underworld, he received joy and happiness by seeing his mother. Not only can the past bring us, the past can bring us joyful memories, just like seeing or mother or a close relative. Overall, by remembering the past, we can learn from our mistakes and make the right choice; not only that but we can remember all the great events that happened through our history.
2. Character
Odysseus: Odysseus is the main character in Homer's Odyssey. Throughout the story, Odysseus' goal is to go home to his family, though Poseidon keeps stoping him and delaying his return. Odysseus is the king of Ithaca and he is known for his guile and resourcefulness. This gave him nicknames like "Odysseus the Cunning." Odysseus is well-known for his Trojan Horse trick.
Elpenor: Elpenor is a fellow solider of Odysseus. In Book 10, Elpenor falls off a roof which ends up killing him. Therefore in Book 11, Odysseus and his men realized that Elpenor was missing, but they continued on without looking for him. After arriving to Hades, the underworld, Elpenor greets Odysseus as a shade and asks for a proper burial. Odysseus agrees and returns to Aeaea. In which he cremates Elpenor's corpse and buries him with his armour.
Tiresias: Tiresias is a blind prophet who lives in the city of Thebes. Tiresias is the son of Everes, the shepherd, and the nymph, Chariclo. In Book 11, Tiresias appears in the underworld where Odysseus seeks his advice. Tiresias tells Odysseus why all these things are happening and what will happen in the future. As you can see, Tiresias proves to be a major impact on Odysseus. He provides useful knowledge, which allows Odysseus t o find out what he must do next. Tiresias affects Odysseus positively, telling Odysseus what he must do and what he must beware of. Not only does Tiresias appear in the Odyssey, he appears in a earlier play we read, Oedipus. This shows that Tiresias was a well-known prophet back in the day and was not a phony who made things up. Quotations: "The shade of the famous Theban prophet holding a golden scepter, knew me and hailed me..." (pg. 252). "... you will never escape the one who shakes the Earth, quaking with anger at you still, still enraged because you blinded the Cyclops, his dear son." (pg 252). "Leave the beasts unharmed, your mind set on home, and you may still reach Ithaca..."(pg 253)
Anticleia: Anticleia is the mother of Odysseus. In Book 11, when Odysseus makes the trip to Underworld to see Tiresias, Odysseus also runs into his mother. Although, Odysseus leaves her to see the prophet, Tiresias, He talks to his mother after Tiresias.
Agamenon: Agamenon was the commander of the Acheans in the Trojan War. He is the son of King Ateus of Mycenae and of Queen Aerope. Later in his life, he became the King of Argos.
Achillies: Achillies was the main character in the lliad, Homer's great epic. He is also one of the great Greek heros in the Trojan War. He is considered one of the most handsome warriors than was at the Trojan War.
Ajax: He is also known as "Ajax the Great." Ajax was a great hero in the Trojan War. He was the king of Salamis and Ajax dies from a competition to see who would win the magical armour between him and Odysseus.
3. Structure
In Media Res: In the beginning of Book 11, Homer uses In Media Res to start the reader immediately in the action. What In Media Res is, is it starts the reader off immediately in the action. This causes the reader to question what is happening and continue to read. "Now down we came to the ship at the water's edge, we hauled and launched her into into the sunlit breakers first, stepped the mast in the black craft and set our sail and loaded the sheep aboard, the ram and ewe, then we embarked, streaming tears, our hearts weighted down with anguish..." (pg 249). As you can see, Homer does not give us an introduction, he immediately starts off at the action, leaving us puzzled and wanting to find more. Overall, this literary device, In Media Res, is used to launch a reader immediately into the action and it is used quite effectively.
Epihets:
Some Ephithets used in Book 11:
Circe- awesome nymph
Odysseus- Royal son of Laetes
Odysseus- old campaigner
Poseidon- a ram, wild boar
Tiresias- seer of Thebes
As you can see, Homer used Ephithets quite often in Book 11, as he does throughout the book. Epithets are basically descriptive adjectives that are repeatedly used in the place of a noun or proper noun. In other books, Epithets are commonly used. Therefore, we can conclude that Epithets are commonly used in books or plays.
Flashbacks:
Here are two examples of Flashbacks in Book 11,
“But first the ghost of Elpanor, my companion, came towards me. He’d not been buried under the
wide ways of earth, not yet, we’d left his body in Circe’s house, unwept, unburied- this other labor pressed us.” (pg. 251).
“I know-- you will never escape the one who shakes the earth, quaking with anger at you still, still enraged because you blinded the Cyclops, his dear son." (pg. 252).
As you can see, Flashbacks tells us about events that happened in the past. In the Book 11, it never tells us about Elpenor's death or that Odysseus blinded the Cyclops, so therefore we can infer that Flashbacks not only tell us about events that happen in the past, they help clarify things. Flashbacks allows us to fully understand events and help clarify the unknown.
Odysseus speaking to his mother in underowrld
4. Geography
Underworld
Book 11 mainly takes place in the Underworld. The Underworld is believed to be made up of several relams and to lie beneath the Earth. Homer tells us in the Odyssey that the Underworld lies past the Western Horizon. There are four parts that make up the Underworld: the pit of Tartarus, Land of the Dead, Island of the Blessed, and Elysian Fields. The pit of Tartarius, is the resting place of all the damned souls. The land of the Dead is the home and is ruled by the god, Hades. The Island of the Blessed is ruled by Cronus and is where heros stay after they are killed. Finally, the Elysian Fields is ruled by Rhadamanthys and it is where virtuous dead and initiates rest.The part of the Underworld Odysseus visits, is the Land of the Dead. The Land of the Dead is ruled by Hades, God of the Dead. The Underworld also contains contains five rivers: River of Sorrow, Acheron, River of Lamentation, Cocytus, River of Fire, Phlegethon, River of Forgetfulness, Lethe, River of Hate, Styx. In the Odyssey, the entire Underworld is ruled by Hades. To reach the Underworld, Odysseus listened to the Sorceress Circe's instructions, to cross the Ocean. With the help of the North Winds, Odysseus crosses the Ocean and reaches the Underworld. Once he arrives, Odysseus is guided by the guide of the Dead, Hermes Psychopompus.
Aeaea
Aeaea is home to the Sorceress, Circe. It is thought to be a mythological island. Although it is often considered to be mythological, the Romans said thet they located Aeaea. They said it was on the western coast of Italy, about 100 kilometers away from Rome. There has been much discussion about where Aeaea was located, but modern scholar Ioannis Kakridis argued from the comman belief that it was located on the western side. He believed that the Island was located on the Eastern side and after looking at the Eastern side, they located a cave, which they called the Cave of Circe. Another was found in the island of Ponza. This became quite a find, since it was believed that Circe had a summer home at Mount Circe and a winter home at Ponza.
Quotations: "... never let the ghosts of the shambling, shiftless dead come near that blood till I had questioned Tiresias myself." (pg. 251).
"Brides and unwed youths and old men who have suffered much and girls with their tender hearts freshly scarred by sorrow and great armies of battle dead, stabbed by bronze spears." (pg. 250)
"The realm and city shrouded in mist and cloud." (pg. 250).
5. Knossos
Knossos is also known as “Palace of Minos” and was the capital of Minoan Crete. The Minoans were also known as the Masters of the Sea. The first settlement of Knossos was in 7000 BC. Minos, who was the son of Zeus, was the king of Knossos. The palace of Knossos is about 130 meters wide. Sir Arthur Evans was a British archaeologist who had began to excavate Knossos in 1900 and to reveal all of its secrets and facts about it. Axes were scratched on a lot of the stones in the palace. The palace of Knossos was first built in 2000 BC and then got rebuilt in 1700 BC to make it bigger and then got rebuilt due to an earthquake in 1500 BC. Knossos was the sight of a battle between Theseus and a Minotaur, which is a half bull and half man. Ancient mythical creatures were a big part in Ancient Greece. In The Odyssey, Knossos is known to be a rich and popular place.
The Kingdom of the Dead
Book 11
By Max Heerinckx and Corby Punian
Period 5
Brief Introduction to Book 11 and Odyssey
Book 11: Kingdom of the Dead
The Kingdom of the Dead is the eleventh book in Homer's epic poem, The Odyssey. Basically Odysseus travels to the Underworld to speak to the Prophet Tiresias. After speaking to the prophet, he speaks with his mother and other close friends.The Odyssey
The Odyssey is a major greek epic poem written by Homer. The Odyssey talks about the journey that Odysseus faces after the Trojan War. Odysseus struggles to make it home because of the God of the Sea, Poseidon. It was written near the end of the eighth century somewhere near present-day Turkey.Table of Contents
1. Synopsis and Theme
2. Character
3. Structure
4. Geography
5. Knossos
6. Bibliography
1. Synopsis
In the beginning of the book, Odysseus and his crew travels to the River of Ocean, located in the land of the Cimmerians. Once he arrived, he performed the required tasks, told by Circe to reach the Underworld. After, he was able to speak with Elpanor, who fell of Circe’s roof earlier. The crewman, Elpanor, pleads for Odysseus to go back, in order for Odysseus to give him a proper burial. Odysseus agrees to gives Elpanor the proper burial that he deserves.After, he speaks to Tiresias, the blind prophet. Tiresias explains to Odysseus why all these misfortunate events are happening to him. He explains that Poseidon is extremely angry at Odysseus for blinding his son, Polyphemus. In return, Poseidon continues to delay Odysseus’ voyage home. Not only does Tiresias explain what is happening, he asks if Odysseus wishes to learn about future events. Odysseus agrees and Tiresias tells him that he will eventually reach his son and his wife. Tiresias also warns him that he must not touch the flocks of the son, otherwise he and his men will face hardships and Odysseus will lose his crew.
After his conversation with Tiresias, Odysseus was able to talk with his mother, Anticleia. During their chat, Anticleia described the current condition of Ithaca. After speaking with his mother, Odysseus speaks with others from the underworld. For example he speaks with, Agamemnon, who talks about his death from his wife's lover, Aegisithus. He also talks Achillies and also to Ajax, a warrior who committed suicide after losing a contest with Odysseus. Odysseus is forced to flee from the land of the dead by many dead souls who are wishing to learn about being alive.
Theme
In book 11, Homer is trying to teach us to remember our past. When we choose to remember the past it can both bring happiness and wisdom and most importantly, when we make an error in life, the past allows us to learn from it and use it to make the better choice. This is why our past is so key. It can help us find the answer to difficult problems and it allows the failures of others to be learned through the world. Not only did Odysseus receive wisdom by visiting the Underworld, he received joy and happiness by seeing his mother. Not only can the past bring us, the past can bring us joyful memories, just like seeing or mother or a close relative. Overall, by remembering the past, we can learn from our mistakes and make the right choice; not only that but we can remember all the great events that happened through our history.2. Character
Odysseus: Odysseus is the main character in Homer's Odyssey. Throughout the story, Odysseus' goal is to go home to his family, though Poseidon keeps stoping him and delaying his return. Odysseus is the king of Ithaca and he is known for his guile and resourcefulness. This gave him nicknames like "Odysseus the Cunning." Odysseus is well-known for his Trojan Horse trick.Elpenor: Elpenor is a fellow solider of Odysseus. In Book 10, Elpenor falls off a roof which ends up killing him. Therefore in Book 11, Odysseus and his men realized that Elpenor was missing, but they continued on without looking for him. After arriving to Hades, the underworld, Elpenor greets Odysseus as a shade and asks for a proper burial. Odysseus agrees and returns to Aeaea. In which he cremates Elpenor's corpse and buries him with his armour.
Tiresias: Tiresias is a blind prophet who lives in the city of Thebes. Tiresias is the son of Everes, the shepherd, and the nymph, Chariclo. In Book 11, Tiresias appears in the underworld where Odysseus seeks his advice. Tiresias tells Odysseus why all these things are happening and what will happen in the future. As you can see, Tiresias proves to be a major impact on Odysseus. He provides useful knowledge, which allows Odysseus t
o find out what he must do next. Tiresias affects Odysseus positively, telling Odysseus what he must do and what he must beware of. Not only does Tiresias appear in the Odyssey, he appears in a earlier play we read, Oedipus. This shows that Tiresias was a well-known prophet back in the day and was not a phony who made things up.
Quotations:
"The shade of the famous Theban prophet holding a golden scepter, knew me and hailed me..." (pg. 252).
"... you will never escape the one who shakes the Earth, quaking with anger at you still, still enraged because you blinded the Cyclops, his dear son." (pg 252).
"Leave the beasts unharmed, your mind set on home, and you may still reach Ithaca..."(pg 253)
Anticleia: Anticleia is the mother of Odysseus. In Book 11, when Odysseus makes the trip to Underworld to see Tiresias, Odysseus also runs into his mother. Although, Odysseus leaves her to see the prophet, Tiresias, He talks to his mother after Tiresias.
Agamenon: Agamenon was the commander of the Acheans in the Trojan War. He is the son of King Ateus of Mycenae and of Queen Aerope. Later in his life, he became the King of Argos.
Achillies: Achillies was the main character in the lliad, Homer's great epic. He is also one of the great Greek heros in the Trojan War. He is considered one of the most handsome warriors than was at the Trojan War.
Ajax: He is also known as "Ajax the Great." Ajax was a great hero in the Trojan War. He was the king of Salamis and Ajax dies from a competition to see who would win the magical armour between him and Odysseus.
3. Structure
In Media Res:In the beginning of Book 11, Homer uses In Media Res to start the reader immediately in the action. What In Media Res is, is it starts the reader off immediately in the action. This causes the reader to question what is happening and continue to read. "Now down we came to the ship at the water's edge, we hauled and launched her into into the sunlit breakers first, stepped the mast in the black craft and set our sail and loaded the sheep aboard, the ram and ewe, then we embarked, streaming tears, our hearts weighted down with anguish..." (pg 249). As you can see, Homer does not give us an introduction, he immediately starts off at the action, leaving us puzzled and wanting to find more. Overall, this literary device, In Media Res, is used to launch a reader immediately into the action and it is used quite effectively.
Epihets:
Some Ephithets used in Book 11:
Circe- awesome nymph
Odysseus- Royal son of Laetes
Odysseus- old campaigner
Poseidon- a ram, wild boar
Tiresias- seer of Thebes
As you can see, Homer used Ephithets quite often in Book 11, as he does throughout the book. Epithets are basically descriptive adjectives that are repeatedly used in the place of a noun or proper noun. In other books, Epithets are commonly used. Therefore, we can conclude that Epithets are commonly used in books or plays.
Flashbacks:
Here are two examples of Flashbacks in Book 11,
“But first the ghost of Elpanor, my companion, came towards me. He’d not been buried under the
wide ways of earth, not yet, we’d left his body in Circe’s house, unwept, unburied- this other labor pressed us.” (pg. 251).
“I know-- you will never escape the one who shakes the earth, quaking with anger at you still, still enraged because you blinded the Cyclops, his dear son." (pg. 252).
As you can see, Flashbacks tells us about events that happened in the past. In the Book 11, it never tells us about Elpenor's death or that Odysseus blinded the Cyclops, so therefore we can infer that Flashbacks not only tell us about events that happen in the past, they help clarify things. Flashbacks allows us to fully understand events and help clarify the unknown.
4. Geography
Underworld
Book 11 mainly takes place in the Underworld. The Underworld is believed to be made up of several relams and to lie beneath the Earth. Homer tells us in the Odyssey that the Underworld lies past the Western Horizon. There are four parts that make up the Underworld: the pit of Tartarus, Land of the Dead, Island of the Blessed, and Elysian Fields. The pit of Tartarius, is the resting place of all the damned souls. The land of the Dead is the home and is ruled by the god, Hades. The Island of the Blessed is ruled by Cronus and is where heros stay after they are killed. Finally, the Elysian Fields is ruled by Rhadamanthys and it is where virtuous dead and initiates rest.The part of the Underworld Odysseus visits, is the Land of the Dead. The Land of the Dead is ruled by Hades, God of the Dead. The Underworld also contains contains five rivers: River of Sorrow, Acheron, River of Lamentation, Cocytus, River of Fire, Phlegethon, River of Forgetfulness, Lethe, River of Hate, Styx.In the Odyssey, the entire Underworld is ruled by Hades. To reach the Underworld, Odysseus listened to the Sorceress Circe's instructions, to cross the Ocean. With the help of the North Winds, Odysseus crosses the Ocean and reaches the Underworld. Once he arrives, Odysseus is guided by the guide of the Dead, Hermes Psychopompus.
Aeaea
Aeaea is home to the Sorceress, Circe. It is thought to be a mythological island. Although it is often considered to be mythological, the Romans said thet they located Aeaea. They said it was on the western coast of Italy, about 100 kilometers away from Rome. There has been much discussion about where Aeaea was located, but modern scholar Ioannis Kakridis argued from the comman belief that it was located on the western side. He believed that the Island was located on the Eastern side and after looking at the Eastern side, they located a cave, which they called the Cave of Circe. Another was found in the island of Ponza. This became quite a find, since it was believed that Circe had a summer home at Mount Circe and a winter home at Ponza.Quotations: "... never let the ghosts of the shambling, shiftless dead come near that blood till I had questioned Tiresias myself." (pg. 251).
"Brides and unwed youths and old men who have suffered much and girls with their tender hearts freshly scarred by sorrow and great armies of battle dead, stabbed by bronze spears." (pg. 250)
"The realm and city shrouded in mist and cloud." (pg. 250).
5. Knossos
Knossos is also known as “Palace of Minos” and was the capital of Minoan Crete. The Minoans were also known as the Masters of the Sea. The first settlement of Knossos was in 7000 BC. Minos, who was the son of Zeus, was the king of Knossos. The palace of Knossos is about 130 meters wide. Sir Arthur Evans was a British archaeologist who had began to excavate Knossos in 1900 and to reveal all of its secrets and facts about it. Axes were scratched on a lot of the stones in the palace. The palace of Knossos was first built in 2000 BC and then got rebuilt in 1700 BC to make it bigger and then got rebuilt due to an earthquake in 1500 BC. Knossos was the sight of a battle between Theseus and a Minotaur, which is a half bull and half man. Ancient mythical creatures were a big part in Ancient Greece. In The Odyssey, Knossos is known to be a rich and popular place.Bibliography
http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/odyssey/section6.rhtmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odyssey
http://www.mythweb.com/odyssey/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_underworld
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aeaea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knossos